


The Plea Deal

by fleurlb



Category: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-10 11:05:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11125785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleurlb/pseuds/fleurlb
Summary: Naomi is determined not to let Rebecca ruin her life.Prompt: I'd love an expansion of the courtroom scene at Rebecca's trial/hearing/whatever that was, when Naomi defended her to the judge.





	The Plea Deal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thinlizzy2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thinlizzy2/gifts).



Naomi blamed herself. Well, she blamed Silas, of course, but then she blamed herself. All the time that she had spent away from home, working in doc review in a third-rate law firm, just to put food on the table after that _schmuck_ left them. And the pressure she'd put on Rebecca to succeed and excel, to build up toughness and learn how to focus on what was important. Maybe she'd sometimes been a little unreasonable or harsh, but it was all for Rebecca. Every last thing she'd done, she'd done to try to give her daughter a better life.

And despite all her hard work, all her sacrifice, here she was, waiting to go into court to defend her daughter on three counts of attempted arson. Naomi buttoned up her suit jacket and straightened her pearls, then looked at her daughter, who was slumped on a bench, staring at scuff mark on the floor. She resisted the urge to fix her daughter's hair or a dab a pinch of blush onto her cheeks. Maybe it was better for her to look as pitiful as possible. 

“Rebecca, bubbeleh, we're going to go in there in a minute. All you have to do is be quiet and let me do all the talking. Just one short court appearance and we can put all this mishegass behind us, okay?”

Rebecca continued to look at the floor, so Naomi gently took her chin and forced her to look up. “Just a few more minutes of being quiet and then we can be done with all of this, do you understand?”

Naomi waited until her daughter nodded before she let go of Rebecca's face.The plea arrangement that Naomi had worked out with the assistant DA was all dependent on the judge's approval. Naomi had successfully charmed the harried, thrice-divorced, overworked prosecutor into seeing that a young girl's life hung in the balance. She also might have let him think that maybe on the far side of the case, anything was possible, but she'd burn that bridge when they finally got to it. If. If they finally got to it.

The agreement was simple. Rebecca would plead _nolo contendere_ to a misdemeanor destruction of property charge, she would pay restitution for the damages, and spend some time in counseling or something. That part might depend on the judge, but as long as Rebecca was out by the time law school started, no harm done. The offense could be expunged from her record after one year. 

Naomi knew that weenie Robert had applied for a restraining order. She wouldn't fight it. Let the chips fall where they may. Losing Harvard would be a blow, but Yale was every bit as good, and Morton Finklebein on the admissions committee owed her a favor. It would all work out.

The bailiff called them in to court. Naomi shook the assistant DA's sweaty hand and pretended not to notice the way he stood too close and held on too long. She listened as he laid out the terms of the plea agreement to the judge. Her heart was beating in her throat. Everything came down to these few moments and whatever happened next. 

“You want me to agree to a misdemeanor on three counts of attempted arson?” asked the judge. 

“Your Honor, she's just a girl in love.” Naomi kept her face neutral and her voice level. “She can't be held responsible for her actions.”

“I am granting Professor Donnelly's request for a restraining order.”

“No, but I'm going to Harvard Law!”

 _The dead awaken_ thought Naomi as she tried not to roll her eyes. She laid a warning hand on Rebecca's arm and gave it a squeeze. 

“Not any more you're not,” said the judge. 

“Your Honor, we have no objection to the restraining order. In fact, given the circumstances...an older, married man in a position of power as a professor and a young and naive student. Well, I believe the restraining order is mutually beneficial in this case.” Naomi moderated the steel in her tone so that she was still on the right side of respectful.

“The state also supports the restraining order and would like to give the defendant every opportunity to fulfill her bright future after this....unfortunate series of events,” said the Assistant DA.

“Given the support of the state and the statement of the victim, I can uphold the plea deal in this case...but only if this young lady received appropriate psychiatric care.”

“Thank you, Your Honor. I want nothing more than to help my daughter. She had a very bright future before this unfortunate detour, and I very much want to see her back on the right path.”

“All right, counselor. Given the facts at hand, I accept the plea deal under the condition that the defendant spent at least two months in a residential psychiatric facility.”

Naomi felt her hackles rising, but she tamped down her feelings. Two months would be cutting it close, but she was confident that Rebecca could be back on track, in Yale Law School, by the autumn. 

“Thank you, Your Honor. I will do everything in my power to make sure that my daughter does not ruin this incredibly gracious second chance.” 

And Naomi meant it, too, as surely as if she had been under oath. She would make sure that Rebecca fulfilled her enormous potential and was never again sidetracked by an unworthy man.


End file.
